You see them advertised constantly on TV – All Inclusive Vacation Resorts where everything is included in the price – rooms, drinks, and food. Except for the upgrades.
This was my first experience with an All-Inclusive Hotel and probably my last. I’m uncomfortable at an all-you-can-eat restaurant and when there are “upgrades” offered at an all-inclusive resort, that means you are getting something less than the quality of an upgrade in the standard rate.
In Jamaica near Montego Bay, there really isn’t any other choice than an all-inclusive hotel. There aren’t that many restaurants in the area and to rent a car and have to drive on the left side of the road to find your destination would be like walking on a tight rope between two fifty story skyscrapers in New York without a net. So, you must stay at such a place, and it becomes the luck of the draw.
If you look to Trip Adviser or another travel source, you notice many have lots of stars, but your wonder where the high ratings come from. Many of these establishments have their staff writing or coercing good reviews from anyone they can find You can have ten terrible reviews by patrons but a hundred with five stars saying “Our bartender was fantastic. We had great vibes.” Those reviews compare with a genuine review saying, “I’d rather sleep with the homeless than come back to this hotel.”
It’s hard to tell the good from the bad and often travel agents have little to go on except for the ratings and questionable reviews.
If I ever saw an ad from an all-inclusive resort that said, “We don’t have upgrades. You don’t need any. Everything here is first class.”
I’d got there for sure.
As for the others? It’s like Clint Eastwood would say, “Do you feel lucky, punk?”